


It's Love, Make It Hurt

by justyrae



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Genderswap, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 14:17:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6569596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So maybe Louis has a little bit of a crush, it's really not that big of a deal. Niall and Harry are just idiots who can't keep their mouths shut about things that don't even <i>concern</i> them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Love, Make It Hurt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nessiegirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nessiegirl/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYYYYY THIS IS ALL FOR YOU <3
> 
> title from "Bonus Mosh Pt. 2" by Taking Back Sunday

No matter what anyone else says, Louis most definitely does not pine. She has never pined for anyone in her life nor does she intend on starting any time soon. Whatever her coworkers (and best friends) say is all lies and they stem from pure jealousy that she got promoted to shift supervisor over them.

"Bullshit, Lou," Niall says as she flashes a bright smile at the guy on the other side of the counter who picks up the latte she just finished making, "you've been pining since the first day Brown Eyes walked in."

"That is a filthy lie," Louis replies as she crosses her arms and gives Niall her best haughty look. "I should write you up for insubordination."

"Oh, really?" Harry remarks from where she's lazily leaning against the counter. Their former line of customers has dwindled down to zero so she's got no problem turning her back to the door so she can counter Louis' stare with a sly smirk. "Tell us again how you got that burn on your wrist?"

Louis scowls as she tugs her sleeve down so it covers half her hand, successfully hiding the bright red mark she'd gotten the day before. She knew it was a mistake to admit that she'd been thinking - just _thinking_ , not pining - about the girl they'd dubbed Brown Eyes who's been in to the cafe a grand total of four times in the last month.

"Don't you have dishes you should be doing?" she snaps before turning her back to both Harry and Niall as she busies herself with going over their inventory. Louis doesn't have to look up to know that Harry's still smirking at her as she walks by, she can feel the burn of Harry's stare in her back as she goes by.

Thankfully a slew of new customers come in and take up all of Niall's attention and give Louis a bit of peace from their nagging, though it doesn't stop her mind from wandering.

Her thoughts drift to a warm smile and rosy cheeks, framed by long brown hair that looks softer than she can ever imagine hair being. The voice Louis remembers hearing is sweet; soft and timid as she ordered a caramel mocha with extra whipped cream.

Louis also remembers turning her nose up at the order when she read it on the cup Harry handed to her, all but ready to express her disgust at the customer's taste in coffee drinks when she was met with the most beautiful pair of brown eyes she'd ever seen.

Honestly, it was a wonder Louis didn't drop the cup and spill hot liquid all over.

So maybe Louis has a little bit of a crush, it's really not that big of a deal. Niall and Harry are just idiots who can't keep their mouths shut about things that don't even _concern_ them. Louis would regret ever telling them about Brown Eyes, but unfortunately they'd been there that day to witness Louis' starry-eyed look that lasted long after Brown Eyes left.

Louis hadn't even been able to say a single word to her. In response to her question about the drink on the counter, all Louis could do was stare and make unintelligible noises that probably resembled a dying animal. Not exactly the proudest moment of Louis' life.

So what if Louis had kept an eye out for her for another week, only to be disappointed day after day. She'd nearly lost all hope that Brown Eyes would come back to the coffee shop ever again, and then she walked in and Louis' legs practically gave out from under her.

She had no choice but to hide behind the counter, only adding to her list of most embarrassing moments of her life. It was a miracle that neither Niall nor Harry spilled any hot drinks on her out of spite (or to force her out of her hiding spot). Louis couldn't bring herself to stand until she heard the chime of the bell on the door and waited a few minutes later just to make sure Brown Eyes wouldn't be there anymore.

"Shut up," she grumbled, quickly turning her back to ignore the matching knowing looks on Niall and Harry's faces.

They've barely left her alone since and Louis' patience has long since worn thin.

"You know--"

"I don't even know her bloody name," Louis snaps, interrupting Niall by accidentally speaking her thoughts aloud. Her cheeks flush a dark red as she looks up to see Niall simply staring at her, obviously taken aback by her outburst. Louis clears her throat and looks back down at her inventory list as she mumbles "can't fancy someone you don't know."

"Knowing someone's got nothing to do with fancying them," Niall says as she shakes her head. "Harry fancies everyone she sees."

"I do what?" Harry asks as she pokes her head out of the doorway to the back room. She steps out of the room and looks expectantly at the two of them as her hands drip soapy water all over the floor.

"Dishes," Louis reminds flatly.

"I'm doing them!" Harry huffs. "I heard my name, what're you talking about?"

"Nothing--"

"Louis and that brown-eyed girl," Niall responds traitorously. Louis stares resolutely down at the inventory list, concentrating far too hard on the types of milk they need in order to try and block out the weight of Harry's stare fixed on the back of her neck.

The moment she starts humming Van Morrison is the same moment Louis decides she's going to smother Harry with espresso beans.

"I _told_ you!" Harry crows excitedly. "I knew you fancied her."

"So what?" Louis remarks with an angry breath. "She's been in here what, four times? Hardly a regular." Louis sniffs, trying to come off as aloof even as Harry grins at her. "Dunno why I'd even bother."

"Because you _like_ her," Harry continues. "You wanna kiss her and hold her and have her babies!"

"Niall," Louis says as she lifts her head and gives her a sinister smile, "you can handle the counter while I murder Harry, can't you?"

"You wouldn't." The pout is evident in Harry's voice but Louis refuses to turn her head and give her the satisfaction.

"I would too."

"You'd miss her," Niall replies. "You'd have to do the dishes yourself."

Louis lets out a long sigh that turns into a groan before she tosses her inventory list aside and rounds on Harry with her hands on her hips. Instead of looking intimidated like Louis was hoping, Harry's still got that dopey grin on her face and she looks too excited for words.

"What do I have to do to get you two to drop this?" she demands.

Harry cocks her head to the side. "I dunno, maybe _talk_ to her next time she comes in?"

Louis huffs and crosses her arms, but before she can come up with a snarky response Niall cuts in.

"You could always ask her for her name," she offers, "that's usually the first step in getting to know someone."

"Yes, thank you, Niall." Louis rolls her eyes. "I know that, I'm not an idiot."

"Aren't you?" Harry quips, yelping sharply when Louis pinches her arm.

"Twat," Louis mutters.

"That was rude," Harry murmurs as she rubs the spot where Louis pinched her.

"You deserved it," Louis snaps in return and Niall whistles loudly to get their attention.

"Lay off each other, Christ, you're worse than children."

"She started it," Louis grumbles, scowling when Niall gives her an unimpressed look.

"Keep it up and I'll _accidentally_ spill hot tea over both of you."

"Niall!" Harry gasps.

"You do know I can write you up for a comment like that, yeah?"

"Yeah, but you're not going to." Niall grins. "You love me too much."

"Fine. Then you're fired." Louis crosses her arms and Niall laughs heartily.

"Good one. Now, what're you going to say when Brown Eyes comes back?"

Louis whines loudly and stomps her foot, just narrowly missing Harry's toes. Not that she was aiming for them, really. Maybe she was just hopeful.

Lucky for Louis, her phone buzzes in the pocket of her apron and she ignores Niall's expectant look to check to see who it's from. She unlocks her phone to see that the manager of the cafe has texted her and Louis allows herself to feel slightly vindicated for having an actual reason to disregard Niall's question in order to do proper business-related things.

_new hire comin tomorrow! you're in charge of training her, she's a bit shy so be nice!!_

_I'm always nice!!_ Louis texts back with a row of thumbs-up emojis, frowning as she slips her phone back into her apron pocket. She turns her back to Niall and gathers up the stack of papers she'd tossed aside earlier, clearing her throat as she spins back around.

"We've got a new hire coming tomorrow, I'm going into the back to get the training manual ready."

"The training manual?" Niall echoes with a laugh.

"You mean the ripped bit of paper that say 'fucking figure it out yourself'?" Harry asks.

"Shut up."

*

Contrary to popular belief - thank you very much, _Niall_ \- Louis is actually very good at her job. She's organized, efficient, and knows how to get people to do what they're supposed to do when it needs to be done. The problem is that Harry and Niall have never actually seen her as an authority figure just because of a few drunken nights before she got promoted, which means they choose not to listen to her most days.

Louis refuses to let that be the case with the new girl that's starting work today. She is going to get the respect she deserves, dammit!

She's still in the back room organizing the training manual, which is actually quite impressive now that she's got all the paperwork in the correct order, when Harry shouts for her to come out to the cafe. Louis huffs impatiently, tucking the manual under one arm as she heads through the door with the intention of telling Harry off for shouting when she suddenly stops dead in her tracks.

Brown Eyes is standing on the other side of the counter and Harry's smile is too big to mean anything other than trouble.

"Louis, this is Liam." Harry tilts her head and nods towards Brown Eyes. "It's her first day."

"Great," Louis chokes out, her voice unnaturally high as she fights the urge to run into the back and hide in one of their milk fridges. The only thing she can applaud herself for is not having cursed aloud when she saw Brown Eyes - no, _Liam_ \- standing there.

"Hi," Liam says in a shy voice with a small wave. "I hope I'm not late."

"Niall's always late, it's no matter," Harry says cheerfully, still smiling widely as her eyes dart back and forth between Louis and Liam. "Is this your first time?"

"D'you mean my first job?" Liam asks, furrowing her brow and giving Harry a slightly confused look. Louis tries desperately not to go weak in the knees at how adorable she looks when she's puzzled (but it doesn't exactly work). "I've worked in shops before but never a cafe."

"D'you hear that, Lou?" Harry's smile turns to a dirty smirk. "Got yourself a virgin."

"That's enough, Harry," Louis snaps, her voice so sharp that Liam actually flinches. She can't bring herself to look at Liam long enough to apologize, so Louis decides to jump right in to her training instead. As long as Louis has actual professional tasks to accomplish, this won't be so bad.

Or, well, that's what she's going to keep telling herself. That, and to not try and pick out what sort of shampoo Liam uses because _by god_ does it smell amazing.

Louis curses once under her breath, turning away from Liam as she glances over the first instructional page on how to use the espresso machine. She is impossibly screwed.

"It's quite simple really," she starts as she demonstrates how to set up the machine to pull a shot, making a point not to make eye contact with Liam every time she glances to the side to ensure she's watching carefully. "You put this under here and press this button, and the grinder doles out the ground-up beans, and then you tamp it down like this."

Louis is well aware that she's going far too fast but she feels like she can't do anything at a speed other than a match to her racing heart, which spurs her on ever faster with every second that passes with Liam at her side.

"Then you lock it in place like so and put one of these little glasses underneath it to catch the espresso after you press this button." She takes a quick breath before she taps the tiny screen on the face of the machine, not allowing herself to pause any longer for fear Liam might ask her something and she'd have to actually make eye contact. "Keep an eye on the timer, usually the shot takes between twenty-five and thirty seconds to pour. Each drink gets two shots, if the customer asks for double, make sure you know if they want three or four."

"Okay," Liam says in an earnest voice, like she's a bit scared of what she's being told already but doesn't want to make a fuss. Louis clears her throat as she darts around Liam to grab one of the small metal milk pitchers off the counter, stepping back into place so fast Liam hardly has the time to turn back around before she's at the machine again.

"Now, you've got to be careful with this because the wand gets really hot, obviously. Put it in the  milk like so," she says as she dips the steaming wand into the pitcher, holding it with one hand as she reaches for the dial above the wand with her other, "and then twist this to turn it on. Give it about ten to twenty seconds to get hot enough - the pitcher will get warm but don't let it get hot enough to burn you because then you'll ruin the milk as well."

"Makes sense," Liam says, and for a moment Louis forgets that she was avoiding Liam's eye and looks straight at her. Liam's watching her with a determined look on her face and it's so endearing that Louis loses her train of thought entirely.

She continues to stare at Liam as she manages to set the milk pitcher down on the counter without spilling it before she reaches for the rag they keep next to the espresso machine to wipe off the steamer wand. The problem is that she doesn't actually look to make sure she's reaching in the right direction and ends up pressing the side of her thumb directly against the steamer wand which is still ridiculously hot. The bigger problem is she doesn't realize and pull her hand away until a large, red burn has already formed on her skin.

"Oww," is about all she can manage.

"Lou!" Harry shrieks as she rushes over. "Are you alright?!"

"I… um," Louis looks down at her hand and then back up at the worried faces of both Harry and Liam, "burned myself?"

"I'll get a cold compress," Harry says as she starts heading for the back room, "don't move!"

"Does it hurt?" Liam asks softly after Harry disappears. She slowly reaches out and wraps her fingers around Louis' wrist to get a better look at her burn, meanwhile Louis' mind is a complete mess.

"I'm fine," she mumbles as she tries to pull her hand back but Liam won't let go.

"I once burned myself in the kitchen at home and my mum blew on it to help," Liam explains before she gently blows a long breath against Louis' hand. Louis is surprised to find it actually does help take the edge off, if only by a little. Her eyes are fixated on Liam's lips as they're pursed to blow air out and she watches as they get closer and closer to her hand until Liam's lips are brushing against her skin. She can't tell if the feeling she gets from the contact is pain from the burn or if Liam's lips genuinely feel electric on her, but either way she flinches and yanks her hand away to Liam's horror.

"What the fuck?" she demands in a low, harsh tone.

"I'm so sorry," Liam sputters, "my mum does it all the time, I don't know-- I wasn't thinking--"

"You definitely fucking weren't," Louis snaps. "Don't you know not to touch a fresh burn?! You could get it infected, you idiot!"

"I'm sorry," Liam whispers just as Harry comes rushing back in with a cold, wet rag in hand. Louis lets her wrap it around her thumb before she shoos her away.

"Take over training," Louis mutters to Harry. "I'll be in the back if you absolutely need me."

She pushes past the two of them and doesn't look back, doesn't let herself overhear whatever conversation they're bound to have as soon as she's gone.

Louis fills a small container with cold water and submerges her thumb in it, wincing both at the temperature of the water and the throbbing pain of her burn. She hasn't burned herself in ages, she's _better_ than that. She curses herself for getting distracted by Liam's eyes and letting it get her into trouble.

Five minutes into sitting quietly by herself in the back room, her thumb still underwater, Louis realizes what she said to Liam and she curses herself even more. Nobody deserves to be shouted at like that on their first day, or any other day for that matter. She was only trying to help.

Louis groans and puts her head between her knees as best she can without tipping over the container of water. She can't possibly go back out there to apologize, it's already been too long. Liam probably hates her, for all Louis knows she's walked out and vowed to never come back except to sue Louis for something. Liam would probably use Harry for a witness, god knows she probably heard every word Louis said.

Louis whimpers softly as she wishes for a world in which she didn't just ruin absolutely any chance she ever had with Liam. Weeks of pining - which she'll still never admit to anyone - led up to this moment and she ruined it in a matter of minutes.

*

Louis manages to avoid anything having to do with Liam for the rest of the day and the whole of the next, but on the third day she's scheduled to open the cafe and have Liam along with her for a training shift. Louis hasn't even spoken a word _about_ Liam to Harry or Niall (who heard the whole story of Louis' burn from Harry later that day), every time they've tried to corner her she's begged off claiming she has paperwork or some other important task to accomplish.

There's no avoiding them forever but Louis will take every moment she can get.

She's thankful that Liam isn't waiting outside the shop when she gets there (fifteen minutes early, mostly just to ensure that she was first) so it gives her extra time to prepare herself for the morning ahead. Once she opens the door and steps inside, the realization hits her that she can't actually start opening the cafe until Liam arrives because she's supposed to show her everything that needs to be done. Louis heaves a heavy sigh as she makes her way to the back to put her things away, allowing herself to act as huffy as she likes since there's nobody around to witness it.

Not more than five minutes after Louis unlocked the door does she hear a soft knock on the glass, and she steps out of the back room to see Liam standing on the other side. She gives Louis a hesitant wave and Louis feels her stomach twist into a knot as she sees the nervous look on Liam's face.

Louis still has no idea what she's going to say to Liam even as she goes to unlock the door and let her inside, her thoughts are still swirling around in her head when Liam steps in quickly and closes the door behind her. Louis forgets to move aside to give her more room, causing them to be no more than a few inches apart when Liam makes the first move.

"Morning," she says in a soft voice, sounding hesitant about saying anything at all as Louis stares up at her with wide eyes.

"M-Morning," Louis says in return, her own voice barely above a whisper. She takes a quick step back and immediately turns on her heel, heading away from Liam and towards the counter.

She knows Liam is just going to follow her, but it makes Louis feel the tiniest bit better to put at least some distance between them, if only for a few seconds. She hasn't felt this nervous around anyone since sixth form and she wishes there were a way for her to get away with slipping some alcohol into her morning coffee to make it through the remainder of this shift.

Louis waits for Liam to deposit her coat and bag in the back room and grab an apron before she heads over to the espresso machine and turns it on. She can feel Liam's presence behind her but won't allow herself to turn around so as she starts going over the startup instructions for the espresso machine she talks directly at the machine rather than _to_ Liam.

"Harry's taught you how to make drinks by now, right?" she asks as she turns her head slightly to the side, just enough that she can catch a glimpse of Liam out of the corner of her eye. When she sees Liam nod, she immediately turns her head back and closes her eyes as she keeps talking.

Somewhere amongst her ramblings about proper brewing times and the ratio of espresso to milk, Liam's quiet voice breaks her out of her self-induced spell and she nearly burns herself all over again.

"Are you not going to look at me at all this morning?" Liam asks.

Louis winces as the question sinks in, but she can't possibly answer it truthfully. She turns her whole body away from the espresso machine and heads to the corner where the grinder is kept, launching into an explanation about how many beans to put in the top in order to make enough for a batch of drip coffee.

Liam waits until Louis has put the filter filled with ground coffee beans into the industrial coffee maker to gently catch Louis' elbow with her hand, stopping her before she can run and hide her face in one of the other contraptions rather than looking Liam in the eye.

"Louis, I know you don't like me very much but if we're going to work together you should at least try to make eye contact."

Louis stares at Liam's hand where it's gripping her elbow and then very slowly lifts her gaze up to Liam's face, town between feeling defensive at Liam's accusation (no matter how true it may seem to be) and upset by the look on her face.

"I never said that," she blurts, for lack of anything better to say.

"You didn't have to," Liam replies glumly as she drops her hand. "Your shouting proved that the first day."

Even though it's long since stopped hurting, Louis swears she feels the burn on her wrist throb. She loses the battle of keeping eye contact with Liam and ducks her head so Liam won't see the tears that feel like they're filling up her eyes already. Louis takes a deep breath as she shuts her eyes tightly and thinks very carefully about what she's going to say next.

It takes too long for her to decide on a reply, she finds, because Liam lets out a sharp breath and Louis' head snaps up at the sound to see Liam staring down at the floor as her bottom lip wobbles like she's trying her hardest not to start crying herself.

"Maybe I should just quit," she says in a choked whisper, "make things easier for both of us, yeah?"

"Liam--"

"You don't need me around screwing things up," Liam continues, "or making you hurt yourself again."

"You didn't do anything," Louis says as she takes a hesitant step towards her.

"You were looking at me," Liam says a bit desperately, "you were looking at me instead of paying attention to what you were doing and that makes it my fault and--"

Liam squeaks as Louis cups her jaw with both hands and presses their mouths together, cutting off her ramblings before she can apologize further for things that absolutely were not her fault. Louis doesn't even realize what she's done until Liam puts her hands over Louis' on her own jaw and she freezes with her lips still touching Liam's.

"I'm sorry," she breathes out, pulling away just enough so their lips aren't touching but not far enough that she lets go of Liam's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean--"

"You didn't mean to kiss me?" Liam asks as her face falls.

"No!" Louis answers quickly. "No, I meant to kiss you. I wanted to, I just… I didn't know if you'd want to, y'know, kiss me back."

"I did. I mean, I do. Want to." Liam clears her throat and allows herself to smile, just a little. "I'd like to kiss you again."

"Yeah?" Louis asks, a smile of her own spreading across her face so quickly that when she leans in to kiss Liam again it's a wonder that their teeth don't clack against each other.

Louis knows the moment she pulls away a second time that it's never going to be easy to stop kissing Liam, which is going to make working together extremely difficult. There's a good chance that she'll never be able to work a shift with Liam again, if only because they'll never get any work done if Louis has her way.

"Louis?" Liam says with a soft, breathy gasp as Louis is trailing a line of kisses down her neck.

"Hmm?" she hums in response as her thumb brushes against Liam's cheek and she feels Liam's hands grip her waist a little tighter than before.

"Shouldn't we finish opening the shop?"

Louis groans against Liam's skin and regretfully stops pressing kisses against her collarbone, letting out a long-suffering sigh when their eyes meet again.

"I guess. Only if we really have to."

"I think so," Liam says as she slips her hand into Louis' and squeezes. "Will you teach me how to make one of those hearts in the latte foam? Harry tried to explain it the other day but…"

"Harry's hearts are the worst," Louis says as she walks over to the espresso machine, keeping Liam's hand firmly tucked into her own. "Everyone just forgives her for them because she's cute about it."

They spend the rest of the morning pouring latte after latte just to practice foam hearts, in-between serving actual customers and doing other proper work-related things that don't involve sneaking kisses when the cafe is empty. By the time Niall comes in to relieve Liam of her training shift, Louis has already lost count of the number of times she's tasted Liam's lips.

"How was it?" Niall asks as she slips her apron over her head, her tone somewhere between overly hesitant and morbidly curious.

"Fine," Louis replies. "Take over for a bit, I have to go over something with Liam in the back for a couple minutes."

"Alright," Niall says, but the look on her face tells a whole other story. Louis promptly ignores the questions in Niall's eyes as she walks into the back room with Liam hot on her heels.

"What do we have--" Liam starts to ask, but her question gets cut off when Louis presses her up against the milk fridge and kisses her deeply.

"D'you have any plans later?" Louis whispers against Liam's lips.

"Like, now?" Liam asks.

"Yeah, I mean, I've got another two hours here, but…" Louis licks her lips and rubs her nose against Liam's, "if you're not busy after, then--"

"I'm not," Liam answers quickly, "busy, that is. I haven't got any plans at all."

Louis grins. "Would you like some?"

By the time Louis and Liam make it out of the back room again they're both more than a little dishevelled in appearance, but Niall at least has the common decency not to comment on it. She smiles and waves at Liam as she crosses the floor of the cafe with her bag slung over her shoulder, her cheeks a dark pink as she bites her bottom lip to try and keep her smile from being too overwhelmingly obvious.

As soon as Liam's out the door, Niall rounds on Liam with a smug smile and her arms crossed over her chest.

"What?" Louis says innocently.

"You defiled Liam, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Niall laughs loudly and claps her hands together. "I knew it! Harry owes me five quid!"

"You _bet_ on it?" Louis asks, astounded as Niall takes her phone out of her apron pocket and presumably texts Harry. "I can't believe the two of you would do something like that."

"Not my fault Harry made a shit bet," Niall replies as she slips her phone back into her pocket, her smug grin even bigger than before.

Louis frowns. "You're both fired."

*

Louis is overwhelmingly thankful when her shift is over because one, it means that she no longer has to listen to Niall laugh and Harry gush about how she _knew_ Louis and Liam would get together _eventually_ , she just didn't expect it to happen so quickly; and two, it also means she gets to see Liam again.

She's not expecting to step outside the cafe to see Liam waiting a little ways away from the door, but it makes her heart flutter that much more when their eyes meet.

"Hi," Liam says as Louis walks up to her.

"Hi," Louis replies, smiling as she leans in to give Liam's lips a light kiss. She can feel Liam smile against her mouth and she melts a little when she feels Liam's hands on her hips.

"Ready to go?" Liam asks as Louis' hands find their way into her own.

"Mhmm," Louis answers. Liam smiles as she brings Louis' hand up to her mouth and turns it just enough so that she can press a kiss to the burn on her thumb, not nearly as red as it was a few days ago but Louis still feels the same electric tingle from Liam's lips as she did that same day.

She hopes it'll never go away.

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://imlouisaf.tumblr.com)


End file.
